Elmhurst College Student Replaces Memorial Crosses

ELMHURST COLLEGE STUDENT REPLACES MEMORIAL CROSSES

ELMHURST, Ill., May 17, 2017 – Elmhurst College student Scott Herzog and his father hand-crafted 65 white wooden crosses to replace the entire stock regularly displayed adjacent to the Elmhurst Veterans Memorial in Wilder Park, as part of military ceremonies following the Memorial Day Parade.

Featuring nameplates of deceased Elmhurst veterans, including many killed in action, the crosses are staked out in four rows over the section of park lawn located just northwest of the Veterans Memorial on the Thursday of Memorial Day weekend.

A senior at EC majoring in business administration and management, Herzog got involved with Elmhurst’s Memorial Day observances through his fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, which has provided event staging volunteers since 2009.

Founded in 1909, Lambda Chi Alpha has a mission to inspire the highest level of character, values, scholarship and service in each of its members.

During set up for the 2016 Memorial Day Ceremony, Herzog noticed how weathered the crosses had become and offered to craft replacements, with help from his father, for only partial reimbursement of materials (lumber, paint, etc.) and no cost for labor.

A resident of Western Springs, Herzog is a graduate of Lyons Township High School in nearby LaGrange.

This year’s display will include the names of an additional five Elmhurst servicemen who were KIA, three from the Vietnam War and two from the Korean War.

The Vietnam honorees are Captain John “Jack” Francis (February 10, 1970) and Lance Corporal Larry R. Palmer (September 10, 1967) of the United States Marine Corps, and United States Army Sargent Frank L. Kobor (July 3, 1969)—who also are among 14 from Elmhurst killed in Vietnam memorialized on a plaque on the lawn east of the Wilder Mansion.

The Korean honorees are Army Private First Class Donald J. Bales (September 1, 1950) and Private William A. Frank (December 3, 1950).

Elmhurst resident Donald Kempf, who has served as a long-standing member of the Elmhurst Memorial Day Parade Committee, oversees the placement of the crosses as a representative of Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187.